LOCAL & GENERAL

Hawke's Bay Herald-Tribune, Issue 84, 26 April 1937, Page 6

LOCAL & GENERAL

Anzao Day in Churohes. Special Anzac Day services were conducted at all the churches in Hastings and the surrounding districts yesterday morning. Appropriate hymns were chosen and the preachei's made special mention ot the occasion. At the publie service in the Municipal Theatre yesterday atternoon members of ihe Ministers' Association aiso to°k proinin&nt parts in the ceremony, inspection for Speed Limlt, The Commissioner of Transport hab advised the Hawke's Bay Automobile ^Association that Mr A- E. Forsyth, civil engineer to the Transport De-. partment, will visit the Hawke's Bay district next week to carry out an inspection and deeide where the 30 miles per hour speed limit signs will Le erected. Asiastio Gardeners. A mption, viewing with alarm the rapid ipflus of Asiatic§ into the market gardening industry and urging the Government to take steps immediately tp restrict their activlties, wa§ carried at a meeting of the Franklin Returni-d Soldiers' Association. It was stated that about half the produce at Pukekohe was grown by Fndians and Ohinese. Theatre Slgn in Flames. Sis engipes from the Central, Western Districts and Parnell fire stations answered a call from a street alarm box when an outbreak of fire occurred in a large vertical electrical sign outside St. James' Theatre, Queen street, on Friday night. When the nature of the call was known, five machines returned to the stations and one remained to cope with the outbreak, which was suppressed by the nse of chemical extinguishers. Damage wa© confined to the paintworfc and some of the tubes of t the sign.

Dividend of 40 Per Cent. A net profit of £98,870 is shown in the accounts of the Martha Goid Mining Company (Waihi), Limited, for the year ended Deceml. . 31. This compares with £83990 earued during approximately nine months, the period covered by the first accounts issued by the Martha company. A final dividend of 1 /- a share is proposed, making 2/- a 5/- share for the year, or 40 per cent. This is equal to the rate paid by the original Waihi goldmining company, prior to liquidation in 1935. The gross earnings totalled £173,193 Of this, income tax in London and New Zealand absorbed £69,115. Fire at HaveiocH. Fire destroyed a shed on the prope* ty of Mr W. J. Rush, of Gallien street, Havelqek North, shortly before 6 o'clock last evening. The prompt arrival and efficient work pf the Havelock North Fire JBrigade undoubtedly saved a greater conflagration, for the shed was situated only a few yards irom the house, which escaped damage altogether. The shed, however, was totally destroyed, and Mr Rush suffered much loss in the way of tools and other household articles., When the outbreak was discovered there were four bicycles in the shed, but Mr Rush was able to remove these before tjiey were damaged. Magpies Kill Birds"I have a tame Australian magpie at home," said Mr Rqyal Nelson at the annual meeting of the Forest and Rird Protection Society of New Zealand. "It is better than any cats at killing the sparrows and qtlier smad birds." Several speakers at the meeting gave instances of the depredations of the magpie, which was described as not a true magpie, thopgh slightly related to it, being in effect a sort of crew-shrike. The president, Mr E. V. Sanderson, said £hat he knew of magpies killing native pigeons, and had seen them chasing pipits. Many reports had been sent to him of their having destroyed fantails wholesale. A world Record Teiegram. The great popularity pf the telephone has created a general impression that the telegraph side of th© Post Office business .is a decfining factor, but this is not supported by actual facts. Telegraph revenue in New Zealand has fully liept pace with the general recovery, and one of the most interesting featuyes is the frequency with which New Zeaianders, compared with other people m the world, use this means of communication. They are in the front rank for motor-vehicle ownership and well up the list for numbers of telephones in relation to the population while, in the use of telegrams, they are uhead of any other country. A complete world comparisqn of the figures of telegrams sent annually per head is only available in respept to 1934, .when it was demonstrated that in Great Britain and Northern Ireland, Canada, and South Africa, less thap one teiegram was sent per head of the population. Australia's telegraphic total represented 2.1 telegrams per head of population, while New Zealand showed the highest figure of 2.5 telegrams. This position has been eteadily improvmg, and in 1936, helppd by the stimu|us of the sixpenny teiegram, 2.9 telegrams were handled per head of population, New Zeaianders thus leading the world in a telegraphic sense.

Parson's Life. "It has been said with a certain amounfc pf truth that a parson's life is not a happy one," said the Rev. G, W. G. Gnfiin at the Holy Trinity, T© Henui, annual meeting of parisluoners. "So much is expected of him, Irom being a thought reader to a walking encyclq'peclia," he added. "Ha is either idolised, eulogised, ostracised or scandalised, and if ho is fortunate enough to escape these he might possibly be canonised." Time for Smoking. An appesl has now been lodged cn behalf of the Whangarei Borough Council against the decision of the Conciliation Commissioner, Mr R, E. Price, on April 17 last in permitting employees under an award a period of 10 minutes each day for smoking. The grounds of the appeal, which will be heard before the tiourt of Arbitration m Auckland, are that the tinding of the Concination Commissioner was erroneous both in fact and in law . New High-Speed Plane. Advicq that the Miles Hawk Major purchased by the Western Federated Aero Club has been sliipped from England on the i?ort Chaliners, due at Wellington on May 20, has been received at New Plymouth by Mr V\ . G. Watts, secretary of the federation, He explained that the machine was a ciyil Miies Hawk trainer powered by a 130 h.p. engine and equipped with turning and banking instrunients. The • Miies Hawk was the hoider of the England to Austraiia light aircraft record. De Valera's Interest. The interest taken in New Zealand by Mr Eamonn de V'aiera, President of tlie Dail Eireann, was commented upon by the Rev. Dr T. L/ Buxtoh, who raturned to Auckland ''this week from a tour overseas that included the Irish Free State. Dr Buxton said he had an interesting interview wRh Mr de Valera, and he waa surprised to find that he had a detailed knowledge of

New Zealand' s economiq problems and of the efforts being made to solve them. It was mentioned by Dr Buxton that his visit to Ireland, last June and July, coincided with the wettest period known in that land for 100 years. Record for Brevity, A possible record for brevity of stay in New Zealand and the amount of country traversed and business done in the short visit was established by Sir Frederick Tout, M.L.C., a member of the prinqipal board of directors oi the Australian Mutual Prpvident Society in Sydney. He arrived in Wellington by the Awatea on Tuesday morning. He motored to Palmerston North arriving early in the afternoon. He visited Massey Qollege for a sho-rt period — he is a leading Australian pastoralist — officially opened the new A.M.P building in Broadway, Palmerston North, and left for Auckland by the Limited express the same night to rejoin the Awatea, which left for Sydney yesterday morning. His stay was oue day exactlv.